Amber Sabathia blazes own baseball trail

When CC Sabathia hung up his spikes at the end of the 2019 season, his future was wide open. A job as a special advisor for the Yankees was waiting for him, as was his future as a podcast host, giving the former Cy Young Award winner a chance to stay involved in the game.

For Sabathia’s wife, Amber, CC’s retirement also offered new possibilities.

For the first time in their lives as parents, CC would no longer be traveling around the country for much of the season. The two sat down after the 2019 season to plot out their next steps, one of which was the idea of Amber taking on a professional challenge of her own.

“I saw myself in the philanthropy aspect and supporting multiple players and their philanthropic endeavors -- and just supporting them off the field,” Amber said. “As we started talking about it more and more, I realized that I had a place as an agent; that really what I was saying [was] how I wanted to guide players and families.

“CC looked at me and he goes, ‘Amber, if anyone were to ask me, you were involved in every aspect of my career.’ Of course, I wasn't CC’s agent. He had agents, they did their jobs and they were great at it. But I was there every step of the way. He said, ‘Many times, people went to you for things before they went to my agent. I think [you] would be amazing at it.’ We just agreed as a family that this would be the next step for the Sabathias.”

This week, that next step became official. Amber joined CAA Sports as a baseball agent, beginning a new journey after more than two decades as CC’s main support system.

“Sometimes people don't figure out what their talent is until later on in life,” Amber said. “I realized that my talent was supporting an athlete on and off the field. The player’s talent is what they do on the field -- but off the field, I can support that. That is literally my talent, so why waste it? If I can make a career from it, it's worth giving it a try.”

On a recent episode of his “R2C2” podcast, CC expressed his enthusiasm about Amber’s new career.

“It’s an exciting time in the Sabathia household,” CC said. “Amber has worked her whole life and been at my side my whole career, so this is a perfect segue into this chapter of her life. I was excited that CAA was able to pick her up and help her learn the ins and outs of the game.”

Amber spent time picking the brains of Excel Sports Management's Brian Peters, CC’s former agent, and Kyle Thousand of Roc Nation Sports, who currently reps the longtime Yankee. She also spoke extensively with Juan Perez, the president of Roc Nation Sports, who sits on the board of the Sabathias’ PitCCH In Foundation. “That's what really pushed me,” Amber said, “Every agent that I spoke to, they were like, ‘You're going to be amazing at this.’”

Although CC was never represented by CAA during his career, Amber was intrigued by the agency. She met with all five co-heads of the baseball department, one of whom -- Jeff Berry -- told her, “I didn't even know when you were the missing puzzle piece here at CAA until I got off the Zoom with you. That's what we've been missing here.”

What Berry was referring to was Amber’s motherly approach to the job, one she believes involves more than just negotiating contracts and marketing deals.

“Every time I had a meeting with CAA, I got off that meeting knowing that they got me and I got them,” Amber said. “They understood what I brought to the table; the authentic, true aspect of it, a person that lived it. I want the best for the player as a whole.”

Having been involved in every facet of her husband’s lengthy career, Amber understands the type of support a player needs. When the Yankees were recruiting CC during the winter of 2008, the talks involved much more than the nine-figure number on the contract.

“I remember in 2009 when we got there, one of the things [Yankees assistant GM] Jean Afterman said to me was, ‘If the family is happy, then the player is happy,’” Amber said. “That was one of the driving forces of why we went to the Yankees; they cared about the family.

“Those things matter when deciding where you're going to go as a free agent or when you get traded and you go to a new team. You don't know anybody, your family doesn't know where to go, how they're going to be taken care of; it's like the first day of school for players. All these things are ways that an agent can advise and I felt like I had the insight to that more than anything.”

Amber fully admits that there are aspects of her new business that she will need to learn from her more experienced colleagues at CAA: the Draft process, contract negotiations, salary arbitration, etc. But there will be things where she thinks in a way most agents do not, which is how she believes she can distinguish herself in the field.

She calls them the “motherly components,” which could serve as a valuable weapon when she begins entering living rooms to recruit young players entering the Draft.

“A mother trusts another mother, because we get it; we know what the kid needs,” Amber said. “It's so much for young kids entering the Draft at 17, 18 years old; those motherly components and aspects to it are as important as knowing the Draft dollars and the percentages and all those types of things. It's making sure the kid is OK. Did the kid eat today? Does he know where to get healthy food and where to go wherever he ends up in the Minor Leagues? Those things are just as important.”

Amber knows that there will be skeptics, some of whom will wonder why she is embarking on a new career. With the support of CC and their four children -- Carsten Charles III, aka "Little C" (17), Jaeden (15), Cyia (12) and Carter (10) -- she’s prepared to prove them wrong.

“I think people will look at it as, ‘Yeah, she's a wife, but what does she really know?’” Amber said. “I have so much to give and so much insight because I have two decades in this game. I've lived in it, I've been through the ups and downs. I've been through the challenges, the injuries, the surgeries, recovering on and off the field; all those things that a player goes through, the mental aspect of it, I've been through.

“The biggest hurdle is getting players to understand that I have that experience, but also I have the knowledge of the other things that come with being an agent. It's kind of getting out and proving my worth to other players that I could do this for them, as well.”

After the news broke that Amber had joined CAA, she received texts from dozens of people around the game -- including Marcus Stroman, Aaron Hicks and Justin Dunn, all of whom sent encouraging messages. Any nerves that had kicked in last Sunday night were gone shortly after the move became official.

“The support from players and their wives is what really matters to me,” Amber said. “Of course, I want the credit from those in the field and my fellow agents. But I'm working for the client and the client is the player.”

“Little C” is a junior in high school, one with dreams of following in his father’s big league footsteps. Will he be one of Amber’s first clients?

“You’ve got to ask him that,” Amber said. “I've been advising him for 17 years, so we'll see.”